


Hunting Grounds

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: HLVRAI Mermaid AU [5]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Bubby Gordon friendship Momences, Bubby learning to be a fish, Fish Death, Hunting, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: New to the whole, being a fish thing, Bubby struggles to hunt, and it really doesn't help that people won't teach him, seeming to prefer to just give him the food he needed.
Relationships: Bubby & Gordon Freeman
Series: HLVRAI Mermaid AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905055
Comments: 7
Kudos: 87





	Hunting Grounds

**Author's Note:**

> e-benrey asked: Babe i demand more gordon bubby momence in the mer au actually . when ur not busy KFJDKDJ (have i sent one like this already. I feel like i might have i just think it's fun 2 see these two get close :])

“God fucking dammit.” Bubby muttered, the light from his lure suddenly going dark as he covered in, crossing his arms and pouting. So, maybe, he wasn’t the best at hunting fish. It had really only been a few weeks since he made the shift, and he had just gotten used to the swimming part of it, much to Benrey’s enjoyment. 

Humans swam with their arms, okay? So Bubby had to get used to being able to only use his tail-which was an adjustment all on it’s own-to move through the water. At first, it put him squarely in the same category of movement as Forzen, who really... didn’t. It took nearly a week, at least after the pain of the shift from human to mer wore off, for him to be able to move up a bit, more of just a weak swimmer, rather than nearly unable at all. 

And that stung his pride a bit. Bubby was willing to admit to that, at least to himself. So, of course, he made a stupid decision, which led to him having decided the next thing he was gonna eat, he was going to get himself. 

That was yesterday. 

To say there was a learning curve here would be an understatement. Bubby first had spent time trying to figure out how his light worked, how to cover it when he didn’t need it, and, once he had figured that out, he figured the rest would come easy enough, like all the random instinctual things that did come with the shift. None of which he expected to be things, like the fins on his arms and back flaring or flattening with emotions, and god, wasn’t that just a bitch? That people could see when he was upset? 

Sure it helped in the long run, but Bubby was still stuck in the mindset of ‘hide your emotions, no one actually cares’ so it was a bit embarrassing at the very least. 

As was this. This inability to do something that every single one of the group, even Forzen, had made look so simple. To be fair to him, Forzen ate microorganisms, so it wasn’t like he was having trouble. Everyone else? Made it look so easy. They all had their things though, their own tactics, and, as much as Bubby wished he could figure this out easier, it just... wasn’t working. 

He wasn’t fast enough, or the fish he was trying to nab were too fast, or-

“Bubby?” He flipped around in the water, getting him off kilter for a moment, fins flared, teeth bared for a split second in surprise, before relaxing again just as quickly when he was it was Gordon. He glanced towards Gordon’s tail for Joshua, as he usually would, but didn’t see the blob fish around, and thus kept his light covered. Joshua loved the damn thing, which was fine, if only that helped him hunt at all. 

It took him a second to realize that Gordon had continued that statement, that the words had not ended with just his name, and Bubby blinked at him, trying to pretend that, no, his own inadequacy with the life he chose wasn’t bothering him. They had had this conversation before, after all, and really, it was only a matter of time before they got annoyed with him. “What was that?” 

“Coomer said that he hadn’t seen you eat today.” Gordon was holding something, and Bubby, despite being hungry, felt that overshadowed with despair. Of course they noticed. Of course they didn’t think he could handle himself. Whatever hunger he might have felt disappeared in that moment, just leaving him feeling nauseous. 

“Not hungry.” Which, now, was the truth. He turned away from Gordon, trying to keep the presence of mind to keep his fins tucked up against himself, but even then, Gordon seemed to know. Not to mention that he was faster than Bubby, probably always would be, even when Bubby managed to get stronger. So, despite the obvious dismissal and escape attempt, Gordon followed, but didn’t cut him off, instead keeping time with him as Bubby moved to go back to his den, shared with Harold, of course, but at least it held some level of privacy. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s a lie, Bubby.” A quick glance towards his arms showed he had failed his mission of keeping them unmoving, and Bubby huffed a sigh, flicking his tail a little harder than before, propelling himself a bit further than Gordon. There was a hint there, to just drop the conversation, but Gordon either didn’t notice it, or purposefully ignored it. Probably the second one, if Bubby understood anything about Gordon at this point. Bastard didn’t drop anything. 

Harold said it connected to Gordon seeing himself as the leader of the school, protector if nothing else. Bubby saw it as annoying during these times, when he just wanted to be left alone to brood over his own failures. He didn’t answer Gordon, of course. It wasn’t needed. Gordon knew he was lying, and any other attempts would only make it more obvious to him. Bubby couldn’t lie well to this group, despite his years of lying to Black Mesa. 

Somehow they just... saw right through him. 

Bubby liked to think that had something to do with Black Mesa, that they couldn’t see the obvious right in front of them. 

Still. Would have been helpful if he could lie to them at all. 

“Come on, Bubby, you need to eat. You can’t just waste away.” With that, Bubby huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. It was a bit unstable, as he hadn’t gotten used to moving them in motion and not titling one way or the other-which apparently was something he needed to work on. Which was stupid-so he did tilt just a bit. He managed to right himself, however, still keeping his arms over his chest. 

“And I will. I’m not just gonna starve myself, it’s a painful way to die.” Gordon didn’t comment on how Bubby knew that. 

“Then eat.” Gordon held out a fish, and Bubby just got angry. It was stupid, Gordon was just trying to help him, and yet, Bubby couldn’t help but feel like... they were babying him. And while, yes, he couldn’t take good care of himself at the moment, proven by his failed hunting attempt that Gordon had stumbled upon, it still stung. He was an adult. He should be able to do this. 

“Fuck off, Gordon.” He snarled, rather than voice any of that. He couldn’t get away from Gordon, Bubby knew that far too well, but still could out maneuver him, if just barely, and thus, ducked up Gordon’s tail, and, when Gordon turned to follow, flipped above him, and continued on, fast as he could, for as long as he could. 

Which was long. His tail already hurt. Still, he was able to have a few moments of peace before Gordon managed to untangle himself and follow. “Bubby!” 

“I said fuck off!” And Bubby was yanked to a stop, pulled back to Gordon by his tail. He snarled at him, flicking it out of Gordon’s grasp, which meant he must have dropped the fish to do so. So Gordon was more worried about his anger than food. Good. If Bubby could just get back to the den, it would be fine. Gordon couldn’t keep bothering him if he was hidden in there. 

Harold could. But that was a risk Bubby was willing to take. 

“What is your issue dude?” Bubby refused to answer, eyes darting around as he tried to figure a way to dodge around Gordon this time. Gordon must have seen it, known what was coming, as he grabbed one of Bubby’s elbows, keeping him there. Bubby bared his teeth at him, but Gordon just did it back, and Bubby, on pure instinct, shrunk back, eyes darting away from him. 

Gordon didn’t like being seen as scary. There were very few exceptions to this rule, and even fewer when he made himself scary to them. The only conclusion that Bubby could draw was that he had pissed off Gordon, and sure, that was going to happen, but must have seriously pissed him off. It wasn’t his goal. God, he just fucked this all up didn’t he?” 

“Bubby.” He kept his eyes pointed away, frowning. Gordon sighed softly. “Listen. I get it, you’re struggling, but you have to let us help you-” 

“It’s not fucking helping.” Bubby tugged at his arm, but didn’t yank it away, Gordon’s claws a bit too dangerous for him to do that. “You’re babying me, that’s what you’re fucking doing. I get that I’m, I’m new? To all of this? But that doesn’t mean that I’m not a fully grown man. I don’t like having to sit there and watch everyone else be able to take care of themselves, and instead of helping me, or, or teaching me, you just act like I’ll never be able to do it.” Gordon’s hand slipped off of Bubby’s arm in shock, and he flipped in the water, making one last dive towards the den. 

This time, Gordon didn’t stop him. 

* * *

Bubby didn’t try again the next day. He let Harold bring him food, ate it despite the fact that he felt sick, and smiled, as Harold beamed. He didn’t leave the den, however. He just... wasn’t feeling up to it. Bubby knew that it would worry them more, but Harold could report he was fine. 

At least, when Harold peeked in to see him, he acted fine. 

Harold was sleeping, when Bubby wiggled free from his grasp, and swam out. He knew, from their schedule, they would be asleep, giving him ample time to try again. After all, there was still no progress to people teaching him anything. He had to figure it out himself. 

Behind him, as he struggled his way through the dark waters, a dark shadow followed him through the water. 

Bubby settled in a spot, closing his eyes, the light flicking on. He had kept it covered for the past day, and it was half a relief to free it again, letting it shine through the dark water, but not enough. He had learned before his face was just out of the light, that it was long enough that they couldn’t see him in the light. 

And he waited. 

Despite what it seemed, Bubby was very good at being patient. He had spent a good long while sitting in his tube silently, watching and waiting for scientists to surround him, poke at him and hurt him. He was very good at sitting in silence, waiting and watching. This hunting style fit him rather well, waiting for fish to come into the light, around him. 

It was a near unnatural stillness for a living creature, but Bubby was a statue, and, if anyone looked at him, his breathing was the only thing that signified his living status. 

The only problem with that, is when he moved, no matter how slowly, whatever gathered around him jerked back, and fled. He growled softly, then shifted slightly, popping his arms and moving back to settle in his position, when a dark shape caught his eye. Fins flared for a moment, before they went flat, and he bared his teeth at Gordon. “What.” 

“You’re giving them a chance to get away. You need to be fast about it. If you move, they’ll flee.” Bubby stared at him quietly, before sighing, shaking his head a bit, light jerking around, and Gordon shifted back, flipping through the water away from Bubby, until he was once again just a dark shadow in the corner of Bubby’s vision, and he went still once more, quiet. 

As soon as there was another fish slipping through to his light, Bubby snatched at it, managing to get a hand around it, claws sinking underneath it’s scales, and it twitched in his hand in dying throes as Bubby stared at it in shock. 

He... hadn’t expected that to work. Not completely. He blinked a few times, then looked towards the dark shadow that was Gordon, and his light was covered again, letting his eyes readjust to the dark, and saw Gordon grinning. 

It wasn’t... the best. Bubby was already used to eating raw food, another thing no one asked about, so when he did eat it, he didn’t shudder at the feeling of it like they had expected the first time when he ate raw fish. Again. Not the best, but even then. He had done it himself this time. 

Gordon led him back. Bubby was quiet the entire time, as he followed, frowning to himself. Gordon knew he came out of the den to do this, to try, and Bubby sighed lowly, shaking his head. They stopped outside the den, and, when Bubby went to duck in, Gordon stopped him. 

“When I first lost my arm, I had to relearn how to hunt. I don’t know why I didn’t realize what this was. They did the same thing to me, rather than teach me, and I did the same thing you did, run off to try and learn myself. It doesn’t help that I didn’t realize, but... if you need help, I’m here.” 

Bubby sighed softly, then, before talking himself out of it, ducked into Gordon’s chest, hugging him carefully, before ducking away from him and ducking into the den quietly, curling up against Harold’s side. There was a moment, where Gordon’s shadow stayed floating outside, before he turned, disappearing into the water. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot longer than I expected it to be. Bubby learning mer things is a fun thought for me! And also Bubby Gordon friendship moments.


End file.
